Evaluation of Anti-PLA2R1 as Measured by a Novel ELISA in Patients With Idiopathic Membranous Nephropathy A Cohort Study

Sjoerd A. M. E. G. Timmermans, Jan G. M. C. Damoiseaux, Petra T. J. Heerings-Rewinkel, Rivka Ayalon, Laurence H., Jr. Beck, Wolfgang Schlumberger, David J. Salant, Pieter van Paassen, Jan Willem Cohen Tervaert*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Objectives: Autoantibodies against the M-type phospholipase A2 receptor 1 (anti-PLA2R1) have been demonstrated to be very specific for idiopathic membranous nephropathy (MN). We studied a novel enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and compared results with results obtained using an indirect immunofluorescence (IF) and a Western blotting test (WB). Methods: One-hundred nine patients with idiopathic MN were recruited between November 1979 and March 2011. The control cohort comprised serum samples from patients with secondary MN (n = 16) and nephrotic controls (n = 17). The presence of anti-PLA2R1 in serum samples obtained at the time of renal biopsy was determined using ELISA, IIF, and WB. Results: With similar specificity (>= 97%), sensitivity varied from 68% (IIF) to 72% (ELISA, WB). Remarkably, patients who were seronegative for anti-PLA2R1 more often entered spontaneous remission (P = .038), whereas seropositive patients were more frequently treated with immunosuppressive agents (P <.001). Conclusions: ELISA performs excellently in differentiating idiopathic from secondary MN. Furthermore, ELISA shared high agreement with WB and IIF.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)29-34
JournalAmerican Journal of Clinical Pathology
Volume142
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2014

Keywords

  • Membranous nephropathy
  • Phospholipase A2 receptor 1
  • Nephrotic syndrome
  • ELISA
  • Sensitivity and specificity

Cite this